More than 10 schools in the Northeast have been accused of exaggerating the number of students enrolled, possibly to gain benefits based on scale, the director of the Third Regional Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) office said on Monday.

Pol Lt Col Samart Chainarong said random checks among schools in Si Sa Ket, Yasothon and Nakhon Ratchasima this month found three schools where the number of students had allegedly been exaggerated.

At Kham Sakaesaeng School in Nakhon Ratchasima, new director Rangsiroj Palawat on November 22 allegedly reported 191 “ghost students”.

The Office of Basic Education Commission’s online database counts 1,510 students at that school, but there are in fact only 1,319, Samart said.

The PACC office expanded its investigation to all eight provinces in its jurisdiction, the others being Surin, Buri Ram, Amnat Charoen, Ubon Ratchathani and Chaiyaphum.

Samart said student numbers so far appear exaggerated at 10 more schools.

If the student body increases from less than 500 to the range of 500-1,499 students, the school director is eligible for transfer to a larger school.

Samart said the investigation was continuing and would try to determine why directors want those transfers, since it would not alter their salaries.

He suspected that postings to larger schools might bring other benefits, such as “tea money” kickbacks from parents seeking to place their children in the school.

There's always "a way" in Thailand! I experienced it the other way round: Since by law only 45 students were allowed in one class, in 1990/92 at Saint Mary's I had more than 50 students from two "parallel classes" sitting in one classroom - due to the shortage of classrooms of course!

NAKHON RATCHASIMA: Graft busters monitoring the public sector have found fictitious students, some in their 50s, on the rolls of a school in Yasothon province as they continue to crack down on ghost learners.

Samart Chainarong, chief of the Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) zone 3, based in Nakhon Ratchasima, said on Friday investigators found that Sornkaew Wongwai Witthaya School in Muang district of Yasothon had 159 "ghost students" aged from 21 to 55 years. He did not give a more precise breakdown.

The school claimed the over-age students studied an alternative curriculum, even though it was not permitted to offer special classes, Mr Samart said.

These students should have been pursuing non-formal education for a degree, if they were real, he added.

Sornkaew Wongwai Witthaya School has 443 students, according to the school's website. The number of genuine students matched the data checked by the PACC.

Adding those 159 ghost students to the list made it a medium-sized school, instead of a small school.

The Education Ministry defines a small school as having fewer than 500 students. A medium-sized school must have 500 students or more and a big school at least 1,500 students. The biggest schools must have more than 4,000 students on the roll.

Many schools have been found adding the names of fictitious students to their enrolment lists to make them appear successful in attracting new learners. The ministry then rewards the directors and teachers by promoting them to work in bigger schools. The schools also receive additional budget funding and other financial support from the ministry for apparently having more students to take care of.

Sornkaew Wongwai Witthaya is among 10 schools in the northeastern region so far found to have ghost students. Other schools are in Ubon Ratchathani and Si Sa Ket provinces.

Mr Samart said one director had been promoted to a bigger school as a result of showing more students on the roll. He did not name the principal, but said it was not possible to add non-existent students to school rolls without help from other teachers.